Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $31.38.

BXSL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $33.50 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Stock Performance

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund stock opened at $31.66 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.99 and a beta of 0.46. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a fifty-two week low of $25.89 and a fifty-two week high of $34.64. The stock's fifty day moving average is $31.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.64.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $357.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $358.40 million. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a return on equity of 12.49% and a net margin of 47.80%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.73%. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone Secured Lending Fund news, insider Robert J. Bass bought 1,626 shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $30.78 per share, for a total transaction of $50,048.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 17,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at $535,664.34. This represents a 10.31% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BXSL. Barnett & Company Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Barnett & Company Inc. now owns 70,245 shares of the company's stock worth $2,270,000 after purchasing an additional 10,641 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 93.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 38,613 shares of the company's stock worth $1,248,000 after purchasing an additional 18,655 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 4th quarter worth about $355,000. Sfmg LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund in the 4th quarter worth about $7,056,000. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 55.1% in the 4th quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,700 shares of the company's stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares during the period. 36.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Blackstone Secured Lending Fund

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund is business development company and a Delaware statutory trust formed on March 26, 2018, and structured as an externally managed, non-diversified closed-end investment Fund. On October 26, 2018, the fund elected to be regulated as a business development company (BDC) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act).

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